


Standing On The Corner, Watching All The Girls Go By

by Benfrosh



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: F/F, and that's just her armor neph's not too good at picking up signals either, dense, really incredibly dense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7278058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benfrosh/pseuds/Benfrosh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nephenee just can't figure out what Heather's talking about, sometimes. It just confuses her a lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Um, Heather..." Nephenee gulped. Sometimes she swore talking to people was even harder than the fighting. "I ain't- I don't wanna- I - um." Consarnit, her anxiety was getting to her. "I just..."

"Honey, take your time," Heather said with a flashy grin. "I can sit here with you for ages without a care in the world."

There she goes again. Talking with Heather was like no one she had ever practiced with before.

The two of them were riding on the back of a wagon heading to Melior, driven by Brom. Brom had asked one of his neighbors if they could borrow a cart to report the whole 'armed insurrection spreading throughout the lands' issue they had run into to the queen. The whole thing had made Brom rather nervous, and Nephenee felt awfully bad about all the stress on him, so she had decided to come with him to report the issue as a favor to a friend. And Heather had... Heather...

"Well, um... why are you here, Heather?"

Heather recoiled, covering her mouth in surprise. "By the goddess, is that how it's going to be?" she whispered. "Lonesome, cast out in the middle of an empty road in the middle of nowhere, forced to fend for myself?" She put her hand over her chest and closed her eyes, looking for all the world to Nephenee like she was about to faint. "Oh, I'm going to faint from the shock!" Well, guess she was right, Nephenee thought to herself as she began to panic.

"Aw, gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I-" Nephenee said, as she scrambled for the words to say. Nephenee didn't know what to do with her hands. Hug? Do you hug people you just met? A handshake seemed weird. Firm pat on the back? She ended up just waving them about in front of her, valiantly looking for a way to hide her shame.

Heather slowly opened one eye and, seeing Nephenee flail about, broke out into laughter, clutching her sides as her whole body trembled. "I'm sorry, I really am, I just can't help teasing you sometimes. You're just too adorable to mess with," Heather finally said as she calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I, um." Nephenee really had no clue how to process that. She hadn't teased or been teased since Jimmy had tried to make fun of her as a kid for accidentally knocking someone out with a snowball. "Okay?"

Just when Heather seemed to have recovered, she started giggling again. "My goodness, you're wonderful. It's pretty obvious why I'm here, no? I was hoping I could get to know you a little better, spend some time together, see where it goes?"

Where it goes... Oh! Nephenee knew the answer to that one. "Well, we'all're going right now to Melior, dunno if I mentioned that earlier."

Heather snorted. Oh no, Nephenee thought, she had slipped into her country accent again, gone and made a fool of herself. She tried valiantly to keep a stiff upper lip, but she could feel the anxiety welling up even more than it already had. She pulled her helmet down over her eyes. 

"Wait, what's wrong?" Heather asked as Nephenee tried to hide, worry in her voice. "Did I say something-"

"It's okay. Rather not talk about it." Nephenee decided to just try to get out of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, can we..."

"Please." Neph shook her head.

Heather gulped, but said nothing more. Nephenee sat in embarrassed silence until they got to a inn to break for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello there. So, um..." Ike rubbed his head in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Warming my damn hands, what's it look like to you?" Heather replied with a cold glare before turning away. Ike had found her as she was trying to fight off the frigid weather kneeling by one of the many campfires in the Laguz Alliance camp. "If you don't have anything else to say, bugger off."

Ike knelt down on the opposite side of the fire, giving her space. "Sorry, not trying to be rude. It's just I don't know who you are, and, well," he said nonchalantly with a shrug, "I kinda assumed all the beorcs here would be one of my mercs, you know?" 

"Your mercs..." Heather paused in thought, still staring at the fire. "You must be the commander, then. Sorry for snapping." She hardly felt sorry at all, but it's what she had to say.

"All good, don't worry about it. So who're you? What's your story?" Ike asked with a grin.

Heather spat into the fire. "None of your beeswax is what it is. I'm no member of your mercs."

"That's fair, I suppose," Ike replied with a nod. "I'm just curious, because from the way I've seen you flick that knife on your belt around, you definitely know how to use it."

Heather finally looked up at Ike at hearing that. "When did you see me with a knife? I didn't..."

"Saw you cutting open one of the supply bags with it and steal some food," Ike casually answered. Heather blanched. Horse dung, was she caught? "Don't worry, you aren't in trouble," Ike continued with a laugh. "I was already planning to feed Ilyana that food anyways. All worked out in the end."

Heather sighed. She was completely at his mercy, if he had followed her to feeding Ilyana without her noticing. "How'd you catch me? I could've sworn no one was watching."

"You aren't the first thief I've had to work with in the camp, and I doubt you'll be the last." Ike extended a hand over the small campfire. "Name's Ike. What's yours?"

Heather glared, before taking his hand in a firm handshake. "Heather. I'm a thief, as you've well surmised. Came here with Nephenee."

Ike nodded in reminiscence. "Neph's a good soldier. Friend of yours?"

Heather sighed. "I wish."

"Something bad between you two? Don't want any trouble on this next mission."

"Next mission?" Heather replied. "Who said anything about a mission?"

"We're going to go rough up a Begnion camp. Should have some senators in it. I need someone to make an impression on them without hurting them, and I figure robbing them blind would do it."

"How much do I get paid for it?"

"You keep what you take and I don't have you carried out of the camp."

"Deal. When we leaving?"

Ike stood up. "Right now. Let's go. We'll pick up Neph and the rest of the strike force on the way, and then we fly."

Heather sighed. Guess she had to apologize to Nephenee sooner rather than later...

Wait, fly?

\---

Heather had never flown before. Frankly, she had never even fantasized about it. Sure, she knew about the pegasus knights of Begnion, and the wyvern knights of Daein, and the various flying laguz, but they existed sort of on the periphery of her knowledge, like volcanoes and armadillos. 

And yet, none of that stopped the fact that she was clinging on to a hawk laguz for dear life, soaring well above a massive mountain range, and praying she didn't suddenly fall.

Thankfully, the flight was very steady. She had sort of expected a lot more wind way up here, but it was nice and calm aside from the whooshing air as they flew. It was... relaxing, honestly. Invigorating. A little terrifying, but what fun experience wasn't?

She tried to close her eyes and relax as they flew, her hair billowing in the breeze, but... Nephenee was flying on the hawk next to her, and Heather couldn't resist looking over to check on her.

Nephenee thankfully seemed fine. She had a firm grasp on her hawk, her helmet was keeping the wind out of her eyes and keeping her hair from frizzing up like Heather's was inevitably going to, and she was still cute as a button.

Heather sighed internally. She did feel awful for embarrassing Nephenee. She was barely even certain what went wrong - she had thought Nephenee was just playing along with her flirting, but... guess she crossed a line Neph was uncomfortable with, Heather thought to herself. She'd have to apologize properly someday soon, if Nephenee'd accept it.

As she thought about the best way to apologize, the hawks began their descent to the Begnion camp.

\---

By the goddess, what a haul! Heather had already found an easy ten, twenty thousand gold lying around in jewelry and spare cash just cleaning out the tents the senators had already evacuated. And she barely had to do any fighting - she just made sure to hang back a little while Ike and his pals (and Nephenee) charged forward and burned the camp down. What an easy job!

As she left the tent with her latest haul, she spotted one of the imperial senators running towards her direction, and freezing in fear as he spotted her. Another easy mark. She pulled out her knife, flicked it between her hands to make sure the senator spotted it, and slowly lunged at his left side. As he clumsily dodged her lazy blow, she swung her left fist into his gut, causing him to double over in pain long enough for her to snatch his coin purse. Easy pickings.

She turned around to look for her next target to see - a cavalier charging straight toward her, lance at the ready. She tried to dodge to the side, but her foot slammed into a rock and she tumbled over in pain, her ankle twisted. She rolled to see the cavalier slightly adjusting his course to trample her.

Well, Heather thought to herself. This is it. Sorry, Mom. She closed her eyes to wait for death.

Then she heard a clang of steel on steel, and a loud yell. She opened her eyes to see - a guardian angel standing over her, her shield covering Heather's prone position and her lance tossing the now dead body of the Begnion cavalier to the ground. The angel turned around and knelt by Heather's side.

"Y'all - are you alright, Miss Heather?"

Heather grinned. "Now that you're here, I'm more than alright." Nephenee blushed, and Heather worried she might've crossed a line again. "Aw, I'm sorry, I-"

Neph shook her head. "Let's talk when we get you outta here. I'mma - I'm gonna carry you out." And just like that, Nephenee picked up Heather in both her arms and started running out of the camp.

Heather would've swooned if she wasn't already in Nephenee's arms. As is, she couldn't help but feel like it was a dream. "You certainly pack a lot of muscle in there, honey," Heather said flirtatiously.

"Try'um my best - I try my best, work out every day. All I can do."

Heather paused in thought. The way Nephenee had been talking... "Honey, are you embarrassed by your accent?"

Even as she was running, carrying Heather in her arms, Nephenee tried her best to look away from Heather. "... yeah. Especially since I made a fool of myself in front of you already."

Oh no, Heather thought to herself. "Nephenee, was that why you didn't want to talk to me anymore? Because you were embarrassed?"

"Yeah, just abouts- yeah. Especially when you started laughing at how much of a bumpkin I was bein' - being."

Heather wished she could reach out and comfort Nephenee, but she was afraid of throwing her off balance. "Honey, you had made a joke. I was laughing at that."

Nephenee's flushed cheeks gave way to a look of confusion. "I did?"

"You did. Or rather, I thought you did. Your accent is perfectly charming, just like the rest of you." Heather added the most radiant smile she could to convince Nephenee of her sincerity.

Nephenee paused in thought. "Well, gosh, Miss Heather. Thanks."

"Call me Heather, honey."

"Well alright then, Heather, if that's okay with you." Nephenee smiled at Heather, and Heather felt like swooning again. Instead, she took the opportunity to curl up closer in Nephenee's arms as they ran back.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, Heather, what're'ya doing out back here, so far from the rest of the tents?" Nephenee eventually asked Heather, who was leading her by the arm to the far edges of the encampment. "Didn't we pass all the other folk a hundred paces ago?"

"Oh, it's fine, Neph honey, I just wanted to make sure we were nice and isolated, you know?" Heather responded with a grin. "Is it okay if I call you Neph?"

Nephenee nodded, a bit confused. "Sure. Not many do, but if you want it's all fine by me."

"Glad to hear it." Heather's smile was definitely confusing Nephenee again. "I just really wanted to thank you for saving me the other day, and I figured it'd be much nicer if it was just the two of us."

"You know, Heather, you haven't actually told me what we're doing..." Nephenee said, trailing off out of fear of making a scene. She figured she'd find out soon enough anyways.

Finally they reached their destination - what Nephenee thought was one of the supply tents used to store food. When Heather pulled back the flap, however, Nephenee saw it had been converted into a giant luxurious room, with a comfy bed as opposed to a sleeping roll, a small dining table with a candle burning and actual chairs, and multiple chests full of clothes and linens and jewelry. On the table were two plates with freshly prepared steaks and mashed potatoes, still steaming. Nephenee could barely believe it - she doubted even the commanders' tents looked this nice. "By the goddess, Heather, where'd you get all this stuff?"

"Oh, you know," Heather replied airily as she pulled a chair back from the table. "I asked. Have a seat, Neph."

Nephenee took a seat, eyeing the steak hungrily. She hadn't had anything good to eat in weeks now, with all the travel. But... "Um, is this ours to eat? I don't wanna steal someone else's dinner."

Heather, taking the opposite chair, covered her mouth as she giggled in response. "You're so thoughtful, Neph. But no, it's all ours. I pulled some strings to get some nice food for you, as thanks, you know? Besides, I feel like we should get to know each other better." And Heather rested her chin on her hands as she gazed at Nephenee. Nephenee still had no idea what she was looking at, though.

"Well, um, okay." Nephenee tried to scratch her head in confusion, but realized she still had her helmet on. Oh, what a dolt she was. Heather said she didn't care, but sometimes Nephenee still felt like a real bumpkin in comparison to someone like Heather, who always knew what was going on. She took off her helmet and set it in her lap, moving her hair to try to get rid of the helmet head she kept ending up with. She felt awfully self-conscious about it, as Heather was staring intensely the whole time. Heather's hair was so much prettier than Nephenee's, at any rate. That long golden hair didn't keep getting tousled, sliced, sullied in the mud, and Nephenee bet Heather actually took proper care of it too, with how soft and full it seemed. Nephenee really didn't know what such a lovely gal was doing with a bumpkin like her.

"You really have lovely hair, Nephenee," Heather finally whispered, breaking Nephenee from her reverie. "It frames you perfectly. It goes great with your lovely features." Nephenee couldn't quite recognize the tone in Heather's voice, and that kind of unsettled her. 

"Aw, shucks," Nephenee responded, trying to shake the anxiety off. "Not half as good as you do, Heather. You're the most put together gal I've ever seen." At that, Heather's grin seemed to grow even wider than it had before. "You're gonna make some guy real happy some day." And then Heather's grin disappeared.

"Wait, so... you aren't... wait." Heather rubbed her forehead with an exasperated expression. "Honey, do you realize what all this is?"

"Uh..." Was this a trick question? "A thank you for saving you, right? That's what you said." Nephenee felt fairly certain about that.

At that, Heather let out a great sigh. "Goddess, you're lovely but you're not very good at the subtle things. Honey, I'm flirting with you."

"Eh?" Nephenee was caught off guard.

"Flirting. Hitting on. Seducing. I think you're cute and I'm trying to get you into bed. You know how this works, right?"

Suddenly, everything made a lot more sense to Nephenee. "Ohhhh. So when you kept talking about how cute I was..."

Heather slowly nodded.

"And when you were giggling at me..."

"I was giggling at how cute you were, yes."

Nephenee nodded, the pieces coming together. "And when you cuddled up to me, that was because you were... I thought you were just falling off."

Heather sighed again. 

Now Nephenee was embarrassed, but significantly relieved. "Well, why didn't you just go ahead and say so? Would've made things a lot clearer."

"I'm realizing now my usual approach doesn't work very well, yes," Heather replied with a laugh. "Hi Neph. I think you're extremely cute, and I want to eat this dinner with you, flirt with you, seduce you a little if you're open to it, and see where it goes. Are you interested?"

"Sure reckon!" Nephenee replied enthusiastically. "Ma's been asking me to find a nice girl to settle down with for ages now."

Heather stared. "Honey, you're gay and you didn't notice all my heavy-handed comments?"

There goes Heather, saying weird things again, Nephenee thought. "Well, we've been fighting for how long now? Who the heck has time for romancing on the battlefield? I've been so focused on getting from A to B that I can barely remember to get all my clothes on in the morning."

Heather closed her eyes and whispered something Nephenee could barely hear. Finally, she responded, "I suppose that's true, yes. So let's just take this time right now for a little romance?"

Nephenee smiled. "Sounds like a darn good plan to me."

Heather whispered something again, and Nephenee swore she heard "the girls I fall in love with sometimes."


End file.
